Calk for footwear



Aug. 19, 1952 LANGER 2,607,134

CALK FOR FOOTWEAR Filed May 27, 1949 ATTORNEYS,

Patented Aug. 19, 1952 i i i V 339B FOOTWEAR Adolph Arthur: ha eerlrliivee X. 81

si ne o1 iii -r per ent. to (Jingle lig rnqn,

senec Ane isetio The invention relates to call zs for {pet wear; more especially to cal-ks having spike ends usd'i-n climbing, sports, and various other activities. The invention ismore particularly eoncernled withfspihes for ge-lfshg'es' l 9m f rm of la 'wi i s k ele nt r edf o omp s s memes h ead dwt j 'r s me a e we medw e as e rn ly eneede hsed wh c gen b e s fl' et the holder. The shoe has inner anti outer soles dv h o e is ewn an oe ins. form d i h u s l .A Re ew? or nn r seq t e holder is provided. with flanges which are adapted to rest 2 2 h i i e 's e eb wii t -emb Proxies whi r g d qvnwerci y n t solefwhen the hold er is being installed in'it's opening in the sole. These prongs are e egs w in order to prevent rotary movement of the holder; when the spilge isscrewed into the holgler or withdrawn therefrom. Inresisting movement of the holder, however; when the spike is installed orremoved from the: holder, the prongs may cause injury to the'sole of th shoej, 'on'occasion so serious that the sole-must he removeq and replaced by a new sole. Furthermore, in use the head of the spoke may become setin the holder and cannot be removed, thus requiring the replacement of the spoke and holderwith 'new ones, which in turn requires the separation of the outer and inner soles. in order to permit such replacement.

With the foregoing and other defeotsof'the artin view, the present invention contemplates providin a. call; structure of improved design which. will permit the calk to henushed'intothe.

frictional engagement between: the. memhers i which; will tencl to. preventeny la ive lateral. movement between the oak amt the holder which otherwise might. occur when the shoewis bein worn.

A calk assembly embody n hepri einles .Qt e

invention will n a s meleiorm set ior aloneitudinal hollow holder comprisin a. 'a-r ha Tme 'ahlower; portion formed transverse surrounding groo e, se d rooved n rtiqnhcins momma-expend and contract. and analls her 2?, 1949, Serial No, 95,639} 2 Glaima. (c t-geese n a. shank. withx'a depending reduces: sa d grooved part and neck being relatively as. o present surtaccs. which. are oriented-mete opposed and elbselyxen aeed and: mfievent'nelative lateral. movement. between the holder: and; cal s; and said holder and call:- bein adantecl to pen:

mit.the...sha.nk.ofi thecalk to. bethrust into; the

holder thmugh ianctheyond theerooved hertwith a. direct. axial. nonrmtary; movement. and? to: he

' pulled therefrom. with: a similar. reverse move:

ment. v

According to a. feature of theinvlentionLthe holder tor-med. immediately below; the. grooved martcwith algwer collar whichisadanted to-suh rounda correspondingly shaped part ofitheflalk immediately. below. neck thereof; the; frie! tional' engagementihetween said partandthe cob lar beingsuch that norelativelaterat movement betweenthe calkand theholderfeanoccur. to facilitate. its expanding andeontrectingopera-i tions; the groove isIfor-megi'with transverse-slots. These and. other objeets;v features and advaris tagesof the inventionwill' impart. h obvious-and in part be monef-ully set forth inl-ithelfollowing description, .whenread in connection accompelis in drawing'ofwhichz .1

1 isan'em arged 'bottom'plan view of a shoe providedwith oalkshiadeiaccordinglto the m vention;

Fig. 2 isa frag mentary'zseetional vievv taken on the line g++2 of Fig-j 1 and partly in elevation, and of the hole of? the'shoel showing a' hol'derand ealk' of: the invention embedded therein and atool to be used withth'ecalk; and

Fig. 3 is an exploded View; showingperspective:oftheholderflhtlbalk. A preferred enihodiment' of the invention is i llustratecl-inthe-drawing and eombrises a-Iongi tuglinal hollow holdenl, made of resilient mate-i rial, as spring steel; and of suitable dimensions Wer ly as the Q ter is with an annular transverse groove 8 below which depends a lower collar 9. Further reference to these parts will be made in now describing the spike proper.

A calk It] made in accordance with the invention will comprise a shank with a head I l which, to facilitate its passage through the grooved portion of the holder, will be knob-shaped, and which will have, depending from its lower surface, a reduced annular portion or neck [2 formed by a circumferential groove in the surface of the shank. The collar 6 and groove 8 of the holder. and the head H and neck l2 of the calk are relatively so formed that, when the head and neck of calk are in operative position in the upper collar 6 and groove 8, respectively (with the top of the head abutting against the surface of the inner sole 3), they will be held in close frictional engagement and any relative lateral movement between the calk and holder will be prevented. Further reference to this subject Will presently be made.

In order, however, to make secure in high degree the engagement between the holder and the calk, the part [3 of the calk l immediately below the neck 12, see Figs. 2 and 3, is expanded circumferentially and formed with perpendicular sides, matching the lower collar 9. The said part l3 and lower collars, when in operative position, make a close and secure contact which alone would preclude lateral movement between the calk and holder.

The body of the calk is provided with an annular flange 15 which, as shown in Fig. 2, is seated upon a shoulder I6 formed by a slight circumferential extension of the body of the calk. This flange I is similar to the flange l but preferably is of greater circumference, and the two flanges serve between them firmly to clamp the outer sole 4 of the shoe. Thisflange It: may be attached to the calk in any suitable way but, preferably, it is constructed of such inner circumference with relation to the body of the calk that it is placed on the calk with a forcedflt.

There are supplied to manufacturers of golf shoes outer soles of uniform thickness which will permit the use of a holder part of standard size for the calk element. ,It is possible that the leather of the outer sole will expand, when wet, and when this occurs pressure may be exerted against the annular flanges l and of the holder and calk, respectively, which pressure will tend to separate the calk and holder. To overcome this tendency, in these conditions, the calk ill, as heretofore stated, is formed with the reduced neck 12, said knob or head I l convexedly tapering towards saidneck from a section a,b of the knob substantially midway of its height. The grooved portion of the holder is correspondingly shaped snugly to receive the described portion of the spike, all as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When the knob of the spike is in place in the holder, frictional engagement between the knob and neck of the calk and the corresponding parts of the holder will take place. With this engagement of the holder and calk it will readily be seen that, should the leather of the outer sole expand because of dampness or said sole be of excessive thickness because of error in manufacture, the calk will readily adjust itself to the slight change of position required, and this without any signiflcant vertical movementof the calk, as heretofore stated. Below the flangel5 the calk is formed with an annular groovel'l to which further reference will be made, and'below said oove the calk tapers to the usual spike point.

In order to facilitate its resilient operation, as heretofore mentioned, the holder is formed with longitudinal slots M which traverse the groove 8 and, preferably, extend into the upper and lower collars 6 and 9. These slots permit the outward the inner and outer soles are then bound together, as by stitching; and the calk is inserted in the holder in the manner heretofore described. Any suitable tool may be used to withdraw the calk from the holder, when desired. Preferably and as shown, however, the body of the calk, as stated, is formed with the annular groove ll into which jaws I8 of pincers is can enter in a usual manner and the calk be withdrawn by pulling with the arms 20 of the pincers in a direct axial translatory movement as heretofore described.

The calk of this invention has been described as being applied to the sole of a shoe but it will be understood, of course, that the calk can be and usually is applied to the heel of the shoe and in a similar manner. Openings will be formed in a lift of the heel and the calk applied as heretofore detailed, all of which will be fully understood by those skilled in the art. The calks may be applied to the sole and heel of the shoe in any desired and convenient number.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the precise construction shown and described as many changes may be made in the details thereof without departing from the main principles of the invention or sacrificing its chief advantages.

I claim:

1. A calk assembly for foot wear including a metal socket for attaching to the sole of a shoe with the entrance to the socket at the bottom face of the sole, said socket being of continuous extent around the entire periphery of its lower end, and said socket having a cylindrical inside wall for a substantial distance upward from its entrance and throughout at least the greater part of the height of the socket, a calk having a shank portion with a shoulder at the lower end of the shank portion in position to contact with the end face of the socket around the entrance to the socket for limiting the axial movement of the calk into the socket, said shank portion having a cylindrical wall corresponding to the inside wall of the'socket and of substantially equal cross section to the inside of the socket so that the shank portion of the calk fits snugly in the socket and is held by the cylindrical wall against tilting movement in any plane through the longitudinal axis of the calk and socket, a circumferential groove in the cylindrical'surface of the shank portion of the calk at a substantial distance above the shoulder, but below the upper end of the cylindrical wall of the calk so that the cross section is equal to that below the groove, a downwardly extending spike portion of the calk below the shoulder, and resilient spring means in the socket in position to engage the groove in the shank portion of the calk when the shoulder is in contact with the bottom end face of the socket to yieldably hold the calk against downward axial displacement in the socket.

2. A calk structure for insertion in a metal socket attached to the sole of a shoe with the entrance to the socket opening through the bottom face of the sole, said calk structure having a spike portion with a pointed end, a shank portion, and a shoulder at the juncture of the spike portion and shank portion to limit axial movement of the calk into the socket, the shank portion of the calk having a cylindrical side wall of a cross section to fit snugly within the socket to resist tilting of the calk in any plane through the longitudinal axis of the socket, a circumferential groove in the side wall of the shank portion intermediate the upper and lower ends of the cylindrical wall for receiving spring means in the socket to retain the calk therein, the cross section 01' the shank portion above the groove being as great as the cross section or the shank portion below the groove so that the wall of the shank portion both above and below the groove contact the wall 01' the socket to resist tilting of the calk.

ADOLPH ARTHUR LANGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references "are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,868,729 Crap July 26, 1932 2,260,138 Feinberg Oct. 21, 1941 0 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 11,592/09 Great Britain Feb. 10, 1910 138,399 Great Britain Feb. 12, 1920 415,882 Great Britain Sept. 6, 1934. 436,615 Germany Nov. 5, 1926 674,959 France Oct. 28, 1929 792,111

France Oct. 14, 1935 g 

